Ex-UofL commit quits pro team

Former U.S. high school basketball star Jeremy Tyler quit Israeli team Maccabi Haifa and returned home Friday, cutting short a disappointing first pro season.

The 18-year-old Tyler, who originally committed to Louisville, arrived in Israel on a wave of publicity in August after deciding to skip his senior year at San Diego High School to gain professional experience.

However, his time in Israel was fraught with problems, and he left two months before the end of the season.

In the 10 games Tyler played for Haifa, the 6-foot-11 power forward averaged only 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 7.6 minutes. Tyler, who earned a $140,000 salary, found it hard to adapt to the pro game and couldn't find a place in Maccabi Haifa's starting lineup.

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Last month, he walked out on the team at halftime to protest not getting more minutes. For the last three games, he sat on the bench not wearing a uniform after being left off the squad.

St. John's fires Roberts

The weeks of talk on whether Coach Norm Roberts would return to St. John's ended Friday: He was fired after six seasons with the Red Storm — only two of them with a winning record.

The Red Storm lost to Memphis in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday to finish the season at 17-16, giving Roberts an 81-101 record with the school. St. John's has not been in the NCAA Tournament since 2002.

Roberts said Friday that St. John's handled everything "with class."

"They really tried to support us and give us what we needed to be successful and we were," Roberts said. "This program was in disarray in a lot of different ways and we were able to move it to postseason play."

UCF signs deal with Nike

Central Florida has signed an agreement with Nike to provide shoes and apparel for all the university's sports.

The joint announcement Friday comes after Adidas ended any future sponsorship with UCF in November, in part because of the national attention caused after basketball player Marcus Jordan wore his famous father's Nike Air Jordans.

Ole Miss advances in NIT

Terrico White scored 21 points and sparked a decisive second-half run and Mississippi defeated visiting Memphis 90-81 in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament on Friday night.

The Rebels (23-10) will host the Texas Tech-Jacksonville winner in the quarterfinals.